ORF 2 (''ORF zwei'', ''Österreichischer Rundfunk 2'') is an Austrian public television channel owned by ORF. It was launched on 11 September 1961 as a technical test programme. Today it is one of the four public TV channels in Austria. ORF 2 is available via

DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...

in Germany near the Austrian border and in parts of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. It is funded by a mixture of advertising breaks and a

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

fee; as such, unlike its German equivalents (which are generally available

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

), ORF 2 and its sister stations are encrypted over satellite.

History

ORF 2 began broadcasting three days a week as a "Technical Test Program" (''Technisches Versuchsprogramm'') on

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

frequencies on 11 September 1961. In 1967, the ''Versuchsprogramm'' was renamed as FS 2 (''Fernsehprogramm 2''; 'Television programme 2'), and its broadcasting days were increased to five days a week, which remained the case until 1 September 1970 when it began broadcasting daily. On 2 May 1988, regional news programmes known as ''Bundesland heute'' (The States Today) were introduced for each Austrian state. On 26 October 1992, FS 2 was renamed as ORF 2. On 9 January 2012, a complete design change took place, similar to that of ORF eins a year prior. In line with the clear design of ORF eins, a vertical navigation bar was introduced as a central on-air element to join programme credits, idents, promotions and commercial breaks. The red and white design is designed to underline the strong Austrian identity of the station.

Programming

In contrast to ORF 1, which focuses on TV series, movies and sports, ORF 2 broadcasts more Austrian-oriented and cultural programs. The most important news broadcast ''

Zeit im Bild ''Zeit im Bild (ZiB)'' (translated in English as ''A Time in the Picture'') is the name for the television news broadcasts of ORF, running since December 1955. History The first ''Zeit im Bild'' was broadcast on December 5, 1955; two editions ...

'' is broadcast several times a day, with the flagship bulletin being broadcast at 7:30pm each night. ''Bundesland heute'' (news for the federal states) is broadcast directly before this at 7:00pm; nine regional window programs are broadcast – one for each state. In the broadcasting area of Tyrol and in South Tyrol, which is part of Italy, Südtirol heute is broadcast from Monday to Friday at 6:30 pm, which is produced by the ORF studio in

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

(until March, 2021 by the ORF Landesstudio Tirol in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

Entertainment

*'' Eurovision Choir'' (2017) *''

Eurovision Young Musicians Eurovision Young Musicians (), often shortened to EYM, or Young Musicians, is a biennial classical music competition for musicians aged between 12 and 21. It is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) between members of the union, who ...

Information

*''

Series

*'' Gomorrah'' ''(Gomorrha – Die Serie)'' (2015–2016) *''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'' *'' Outlander'' *''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. Broadcast on ITV between 1991 and 2006, it stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater Lo ...

'' ''(Heißer Verdacht)'' (2009, 2011) *''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' *''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

'' (2006–present)

Reception

All nine regional feeds of ORF 2 can be received via satellite: these are all encrypted and can only be watched by viewers who have an ORF viewing card, which is available to anyone who pays the ORF licence fee. An international version of ORF 2, known as

ORF 2 Europe ORF 2 Europe is a free-to-air version of the Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which t ...

, has been broadcast unencrypted over satellite in Europe since July 2004; certain programmes for which ORF does not have the rights to broadcast outside Austria are replaced with a video feed of ORF 2's teletext service, accompanied by the audio of Ö1. Many of ORF 2's programmes, such as some Zeit im Bild bulletins, are also broadcast or repeated on

3sat 3sat (, ''Dreisat'') is a free-to-air German-language public service television channel. It is a generalist channel with a cultural focus and is jointly operated by public broadcasters from Germany ( ZDF, ARD), Austria ( ORF) and Switzerlan ...

. Since October 2006, ORF 2 has been broadcast terrestrially via

in Austria. Via multiplex A, the regional feed of the viewer's own state can be received, as well as that of a neighboring federal state.

Branding

From 1968 until 1992, ORF 2 prominently featured the red "ORF eye" logo in its television idents alongside several stylised number "2" logos. In 1992, the first version of the "yellow cube" ORF 2 logo was introduced, designed by

Neville Brody Neville Stanley Brody (born 23 April 1957) is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director. He is known for his work on '' The Face'' magazine (1981–1986), ''Arena'' magazine (1987–1990), and designing record covers for artis ...

. In 2000, ORF 2's logo was updated into a moving, cube with the number 2 inside. This particular logo has been nicknamed "Jelli." In 2005, there was another update to ORF's on-screen design: to avoid the

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

being burnt in to plasma screens, it was changed from red-yellow to grey all-over. In 2010, it was announced that ORF 2 would be rebranded as "ORF zwei" in 2011, but it's unused.

Logos

File:ORF 2 Logo 1968-1975.svg, Logo from 1968 to 1975 File:ORF 2 Logo 1975-1980.svg, Logo from 1975 to 1979 File:ORF 2 Logo 1980-1992.svg, Logo from 1979 to 26 October 1992 File:ORF 2 Logo 1992-2000.svg, Logo from 27 October 1992 to 4 October 2000 File:ORF-2-Logo.svg, Logo from 5 October 2000 to 16 August 2005 File:ORF2 logo.svg, Logo from 17 August 2005 to 9 January 2012 File:ORF 2 HD.svg, ORF 2 HD logo from 5 December 2009 to 9 January 2012 File:ORFzwei.svg, Logo of project "ORF zwei" in January 2011 File:ORF2 logo n.svg, Logo since 9 January 2012 File:ORF 2 HD logo.svg, ORF 2 HD logo since 9 January 2012

References

External links

ORF 2 TV listings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orf2 Television stations in Austria Television channels and stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Austria ORF (broadcaster)